Magazine for architecture, design and art

Walking on purportedly common ground

9/3/2012

Venice’s 13th Architecture Biennale is another kaleidoscope of a presentation. A tour in images of the Giardini and the Arsenale quickly shows just how diverse, and yet how ruptured and contradictory the “common ground” is that David Chipperfield evokes as regards the architecture of all the exhibitions and pavilions.

MAGAZINE

If buildings communicate

9/2/2012

What potential do media facades offer contemporary architecture? Ambitious concepts are expected to provide answers and highlight the artistic possibilities and the technological opportunities.

FEATURED

Organic brickwork

9/1/2012

When designing Hebsgaards Have, Lendager Arkitekter + Arcgency opted for red and grayish-black bricks by Petersen Tegl.

MAGAZINE

Long-lasting and attractive

8/31/2012

The task of remodeling and extending existing buildings is just as appealing as it is difficult. Frankfurt-based architects Schneider+Schumacher are currently working on reconstructing Poseidon House on Theodor-Heuss-Allee. Thomas Wagner spoke to Michael Schumacher about the rebuild, facades old and new, saving energy and the sustainability of “refurbishment and upgrading”.

INTERVIEWS

Smart shells

8/29/2012

Facades have long since outgrown their functions as mere outer shells for the buildings inside. For quite some time now they have been fulfilling a new function as energy suppliers. Sandra Gottwald spoke to Tina Wolf, architect and professor in the teaching and research unit for Technology and Design of Shell Constructions at Technische Universität München, about the challenges and developments in solar-optimized facades.

MAGAZINE

Phenomenology of viewing

8/27/2012

Once upon a time Karl Friedrich Schinkel was commissioned to reshape the urban design of central Berlin. And today countless buildings in Berlin and Potsdam bring him to mind, such as Alte Museum am Lustgarten. Photographer Gerrit Engels has documented them quite soberly.

MAGAZINE

Lisbon’s small polished stones

8/24/2012

That façades are more than mere functional structural components becomes abundantly clear when wandering through the streets of Lisbon. Thanks to the characteristic “azulejos”, the buildings’ countenances are just as colorful as the history of the city itself.

MAGAZINE

Made by the hands of community

8/22/2012

Close to Bödigheim in the Odenwald, the dedication of a group of volunteers has resulted in the realization of a field chapel. A regional architectural firm, twelve students from Chicago and local craftsmen joined forces to complete the wooden construction.

ART

As though I were the star of my own celebrity culture

8/20/2012

He produces portraits of himself as a cowboy and recreated industrial objects using clay. Jon Smith studied at the Institute of Contemporary and Interdisciplinary Art in the English city of Bath and now lives as an independent artist in the Netherlands. Nina Reetzke met him for a chat.

FEATURED

An old tower gets a new climate

8/17/2012

Frankfurt’s Silver Tower boasts ceilings with integrated Plafotherm® heating and cooling systems as well as Nortec and Floor and more® hollow flooring by Lindner.

MAGAZINE

Anonymous, reduced and good to have

8/17/2012

Japanese designer Nendo adheres to the following principle in his design: giving people a small “!” moment and a little surprise. One of his latest projects is the “K%” label, which brings brands such as “Muji”, “Plusminuszero” and “1%” to mind.

MAGAZINE

A lot of nature in a small space

8/15/2012

Enveloped in the seclusion of Sweden’s west coast, Torsten Ottesjö’s new building "Hus-1" boasts curved contours and a squamous façade, its silhouette blending in like a natural part of the encompassing landscape.

MAGAZINE

Prouvé in context

8/13/2012

The Lorraine city of Nancy is not just the city of Baroque and Art Nouveau, but the birthplace of Jean Prouvé too. And now the city is celebrating this relation with a series of exhibitions and showings.

MAGAZINE

Mirror, mirror on the floor

8/10/2012

“Your glacial expectations” is the title chosen for a reflective installation that artist Olafur Eliasson realized together with landscape architect Günter Vogt for the outdoor area of the Kvadrat headquarters in the Danish town of Ebeltoft.

MAGAZINE

The beauty in brass grommets

8/8/2012

What is jewelry? Surely it is much more than something made of silver or gold. For quite some time now, jewelry designers have been experimenting with traditional forms and new concepts. And theorists are also thinking more and more about the kinds of jewelry we wear today.

MAGAZINE

Shifting spaces

8/6/2012

It was the billowing curtains at Venice’s Piazza San Marco that provided the inspiration for the temporary art installation “Replika” by Ayzit Bostan and Gerhardt Kellermann – currently on show in Munich’s Hofgarten.

MAGAZINE

A table, a chair, an apple tree

8/3/2012

ACE has now presented its second collection. The products are all made of ash wood and are certainly eye-catching with their clear, concise lines. Reduction is the determining factor for the entire concept at the young Swiss label.

MAGAZINE

Concrete wastelands

8/1/2012

Can you even “design” parking lots? In the USA, where there is more paved space for parking cars than anywhere else in the world, the calls to take these “lost spaces” more seriously in their role as public spaces are growing louder and louder.

MAGAZINE

Pottery in white matt

7/30/2012

The title “Pottery from Hameln” stretches across the entire cover. The heavyweight publication (it boasts 640 pages) presents hundreds of photos of ceramic collector’s items. Here is an exclusive glimpse at the photo series “white matt”.

MAGAZINE

Munich’s showcase

7/27/2012

Jürgen Mayer H. installs a temporary building for the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

MAGAZINE

So where to put the car?

7/25/2012

Parking is by definition the temporary placing of vehicles on a space foreseen for this. In reality, however, the automobile does not get placed somewhere temporarily: they get driven temporarily. So where to put the rising number of vehicles not running? In car parks!

MAGAZINE

Oh, if only we could walk through ebony peacock gates and enter florally decorated, elegant high-rise palaces

7/23/2012

Where everything centers on being youthful today what is our attitude to Art Nouveau? Is it as young and new as the name claims and as Adorno admonished nothing but “puberty declared as a permanent state”? Has it become a dream world far removed from our box culture? Or is it making a cinematic return?

MAGAZINE

Aesthetic enlightenment

7/20/2012

Nina Yashar is head of the Nilufar gallery in Milan, known for its eclectic installations. Here oriental rugs can be found alongside furniture classics, together with new creations by young designers. Now there is a collection of furniture, lighting and accessories under the label Nilufar Unlimited.

MAGAZINE

Between the poles

7/18/2012

Companies bring in designers to join forces with craftsmen to develop new products, which are subsequently produced in structurally-weak regions. Such approaches are quick to label themselves sustainable, as advocates of ethical consumption. But which projects have actually been consistently done through the years? A selection of ten examples between industry and craftsmanship.

DESIGN

Enjoying the material

7/16/2012

In their inhouse Matériothèque the designers at atelier oï play around with materials such as birdseed, paper, fabric, ropes and gelatin. The resulting products for Atelier Pfister, Bulgari, Swatch and other manufacturers are now on display in the monograph “Workshop Guide atelier oï”.

MAGAZINE

Opposites attract

7/13/2012

French Label “La Chance” recently presented its first collection of furniture and lighting, “Jekyll & Hyde”. True to its literary role model, each object has a contrasting counterpart.

FEATURED

Open, cube!

7/12/2012

The bulthaup b2 kitchen workshop is the perfect complement to the open-plan concept in Studio Furillen located on the eponymous peninsula in Sweden.

MAGAZINE

When apartment blocks are built of asparagus

7/9/2012

Designs by architect Terunobu Fujimori present an encounter between the archaic and the futuristic. Up to now, all of his buildings have been in Japan. Now Villa Stuck in Munich is presenting his first major show in Europe. And Fujimori has even created a vision made of asparagus and other eatables especially for the Bavarian capital.

FEATURED

What’s mine is yours

7/6/2012

A major Swiss bank has constructed a new building in Zurich based on the “smart working” concept, complete with furniture from Lista Office LO.

MAGAZINE

Out of love for materials

7/4/2012

For “design publisher” Thomas Eyck craftsmanship translates into the utmost care in the use of materials. Juliane Grützner spoke to the Dutchman about his collection of hand-crafted objects.

MAGAZINE

Wooden novelties

6/29/2012

Nicola Stattmann is considered an expert on new materials and technologies. In a joint venture with her brother she is now presenting “Stattmann Neue Möbel” and in doing so takes her family’s joinery into its fourth generation. The first designs illustrate that there are still a great deal of opportunities for development innate in reputedly traditional wooden furniture.

FEATURED

Farmhouse meets high-tech

6/27/2012

MAGAZINE

The experience of nostalgia: Craftsmanship has a future

6/27/2012

Craftsmanship – is it a thing of the past? Not at all. More and more frequently we see designers and manufacturers making recourse to traditional technical know-how and craftsmanship. And not only when it comes to luxury products.

MAGAZINE

Lasting Values

6/25/2012

The “Metropole Aluminum House” by Jean Prouvé was the big attraction at the seventh Design Miami Basel and the trade fair continues to be a fixed date in the diaries of vintage design collectors and admirers of classic design icons alike.

MAGAZINE

Constellations: Rietveld and the revolution of space – part 2

6/22/2012

Architecture for Rietveld is spatial art. The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht is not the only example of open-space constructions by Rietveld that foster a new lifestyle.

Magazin

Walking on purportedly common ground

If buildings communicate

Organic brickwork

Long-lasting and attractive

Smart shells

Phenomenology of viewing

Lisbon’s small polished stones

Made by the hands of community

As though I were the star of my own celebrity culture

An old tower gets a new climate

Anonymous, reduced and good to have

A lot of nature in a small space

Prouvé in context

Mirror, mirror on the floor

The beauty in brass grommets

Shifting spaces

A table, a chair, an apple tree

Concrete wastelands

Pottery in white matt

Munich’s showcase

So where to put the car?

Oh, if only we could walk through ebony peacock gates and enter florally decorated, elegant high-rise palaces

Aesthetic enlightenment

Between the poles

Enjoying the material

Opposites attract

Open, cube!

When apartment blocks are built of asparagus

What’s mine is yours

Out of love for materials

Wooden novelties

Farmhouse meets high-tech

The experience of nostalgia: Craftsmanship has a future

Lasting Values

Constellations: Rietveld and the revolution of space – part 2

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